The 1957 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's eighth season in the NFL. Coming off a 5–6–1 record in 1956, the 49ers tied for the best record in the Western Conference at 8–4.
| 1957 San Francisco 49ers season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Owner | Tony Morabito |
| General manager | Louis Spadia |
| Head coach | Frankie Albert |
| Home field | Kezar Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 8–4 |
| Division place | T–1st NFL Western |
| Playoff finish | Lost Conference Playoff (vs. Lions) 27–31 |
Organizational history
editSan Francisco continued their late-season success from the previous year, and won five of their first six games, and were in first place in the West midway through the season. The Niners then lost three straight on the road to drop to 5–4, but then won the final three games to close out the season at 8–4, their best season since 1953.
The 49ers tied with the Detroit Lions at the top of the Western Conference, and split their two regular-season games in November, with the home teams winning. This forced a tie-breaking playoff game at Kezar Stadium on December 22. The winner would host the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Browns for the NFL championship the following week.
The 49ers built a 24–7 lead at halftime, and extended it to twenty points in the third quarter. Detroit's hall of fame quarterback Bobby Layne had been lost for the season two weeks earlier,[1] and backup Tobin Rote lead the Lions' rally, scoring 24 unanswered points in the second half to win, 31–27, which ended the 49ers' season.[2]
Eight weeks earlier on October 27, 49ers' owner Tony Morabito, age 47, suffered a heart attack in the press box at Kezar during the second quarter of the game against the Chicago Bears.[3] He died shortly after arriving at Mary's Help Hospital on Guerrero Street.[4] The team was notified of his death at halftime, and with tears in their eyes, they went back out and won a come-from-behind victory.[5]
Quarterback Y. A. Tittle had another strong season for the 49ers, completing 63.1% of his passes for 2157 yards and 13 TD's. He also rushed for 6 TD's. End Billy Wilson led the club with 52 receptions for 757 yards, along with a team high 6 TD's. Running back Hugh McElhenny led in rushing with 478 yards on 102 attempts.
The 1957 season was the first in 49er franchise history in which the team broke even financially.[6]
Personnel
editStaff / Coaches
edit|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
|
Roster
edit| 1957 San Francisco 49ers roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Special teams
|
Reserve lists
rookies in italics | |||
- Source:
Offseason
editNFL draft
edit| 1957 San Francisco 49ers draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | John Brodie * | Quarterback | Stanford | |
| 2 | 15 | Abe Woodson * | Defensive back | Illinois | began play with 49ers in 1958 |
| 4 | 39 | Jimmy Ridlon | Defensive back | Syracuse | |
| 4 | 46 | Mike Sandusky * | Guard | Maryland | |
| 5 | 57 | Karl Rubke | Linebacker | USC | |
| 6 | 62 | Bill Rhodes | Back | Western State (CO) | |
| 6 | 68 | Jim Hunter | Back | Missouri | |
| 7 | 80 | Fred Dugan | End | Dayton | began play with 49ers in 1958. |
| 8 | 92 | Ernie Pitts | End | Denver | signed with Winnipeg Blue Bombers (WIFU) |
| 9 | 104 | Charlie Brueckman | Linebacker | Pittsburgh | |
| 10 | 116 | Jerry Hurst | End | Middle Tennessee | |
| 11 | 128 | Tommy Davis * | Kicker | LSU | began play with 49ers in 1959. |
| 12 | 140 | Fred Sington | Tackle | Alabama | |
| 13 | 152 | Charley Mackey | End | Arizona State | |
| 14 | 164 | Ron Warzeka | Defensive tackle | Montana State | |
| 15 | 176 | Earl Kaiser | Back | Houston | |
| 16 | 188 | Vic Kristopaitis | Back | Dayton | signed with Toronto Argonauts (IFRU) |
| 17 | 200 | Dave Kuhn | Center | Kentucky | |
| 18 | 212 | Dick Guy | Guard | Ohio State | |
| 19 | 224 | Gene Babb | Linebacker | Austin | |
| 20 | 236 | Sid DeLoatch | Guard | Duke | |
| 21 | 248 | Fred Wilcox | Back | Tulane | |
| 22 | 260 | Paul Tripp | Tackle | Idaho State | |
| 23 | 272 | John Thomas * | Guard | Pacific | began play with 49ers in 1958. |
| 24 | 284 | John Ladner | End | Wake Forest | |
| 25 | 296 | Ray Meyer | Back | Lamar Tech | |
| 26 | 308 | Tom Topping | Tackle | Duke | returned to Duke |
| 27 | 320 | Don Vicic | Back | Ohio State | signed with BC Lions (WIFU) |
| 28 | 332 | Bill Curtis | Back | TCU | |
| 29 | 344 | Vern Hallbeck | Back | TCU | |
| 30 | 355 | George Parks | Back | Lamar Tech | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
- Source:[7]
Regular season
editSchedule
edit| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 29 | Chicago Cardinals | L 10–20 | 0–1 | Kezar Stadium | 35,743 | Recap |
| 2 | October 6 | Los Angeles Rams | W 23–20 | 1–1 | Kezar Stadium | 59,637 | Recap |
| 3 | October 13 | Chicago Bears | W 21–17 | 2–1 | Wrigley Field | 45,310 | Recap |
| 4 | October 20 | Green Bay Packers | W 24–14 | 3–1 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 18,919 | Recap |
| 5 | October 27 | Chicago Bears | W 21–17 | 4–1 | Kezar Stadium | 56,693 | Recap |
| 6 | November 3 | Detroit Lions | W 35–31 | 5–1 | Kezar Stadium | 59,702 | Recap |
| 7 | November 10 | Los Angeles Rams | L 24–37 | 5–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 102,368 | Recap |
| 8 | November 17 | at Detroit Lions | L 10–31 | 5–3 | Briggs Stadium | 56,915 | Recap |
| 9 | November 24 | Baltimore Colts | L 21–27 | 5–4 | Memorial Stadium | 50,073 | Recap |
| 10 | December 1 | New York Giants | W 27–17 | 6–4 | Yankee Stadium | 54,121 | Recap |
| 11 | December 8 | Baltimore Colts | W 17–13 | 7–4 | Kezar Stadium | 59,950 | Recap |
| 12 | December 15 | Green Bay Packers | W 27–20 | 8–4 | Kezar Stadium | 59,100 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
Standings
edit| NFL Western Conference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Detroit Lions | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 6–4 | 251 | 231 | W3 | |
| San Francisco 49ers | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 7–3 | 260 | 264 | W3 | |
| Baltimore Colts | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–4 | 303 | 235 | L2 | |
| Los Angeles Rams | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 5–5 | 307 | 278 | W2 | |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 4–6 | 203 | 211 | L1 | |
| Green Bay Packers | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | 2–8 | 218 | 311 | L3 | |
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
| NFL Eastern Conference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 2 | 1 | .818 | 8–1–1 | 269 | 172 | W1 | |
| New York Giants | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–4 | 254 | 211 | L3 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 5–5 | 161 | 178 | W1 | |
| Washington Redskins | 5 | 6 | 1 | .455 | 4–5–1 | 251 | 230 | W3 | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 4–6 | 173 | 230 | L2 | |
| Chicago Cardinals | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | 2–8 | 200 | 299 | L1 | |
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Western Conference Playoff
edit| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Conference | December 22 | Detroit Lions | L 27–31 | 0–1 | Kezar Stadium | 60,118 | Recap |
References
edit- ^ "Lions lose Layne but win, 20-7". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. December 9, 1957. p. 26.
- ^ "Lions thrilling rally wins playoff, 31-27". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. p. 20.
- ^ "Morabito dies of heart attack". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. October 28, 1957. p. 12, part 2.
- ^ "Morabito, 49ers, dies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. October 28, 1957. p. 26.
- ^ Rosenbaum, Art (November 4, 1957). "Tony Morabito, The Autocrat Of The San Francisco 49ers, Ran His Team With A Belligerent Disdain For Outsiders. But He Loved His Team, And Last Week He Died As He Would Have Wished—watching Them Take The Division Lead". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
- ^ Glenn Dickey, The San Francisco 49ers: The First Fifty Years. Atlanta, GA: Turner Publishing, 1995; p. 25.
- ^ "1957 San Francisco 49ers Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 24, 2024.